Melbourne Nightlife

Melbourne is considered Australia's bar capital and hub of live music, comedy and Broadway music theatre.

Many of Melbourne's smarter bars are tucked away in the city's numerous narrow lanes. Across the Yarra River, Southgate provides the arts precinct with a strip of bars with riverside views. Entrance to most clubs is free but a fee may be applicable on weekends. For gay nightspots, head for the inner suburb of South Yarra, with various pubs, clubs and discos clustered around Commercial Road.

Free listings magazines include Beat (www.beat.com.au) and Friday's The Age newspaper (www.theage.com.au) contains the entertainment listings supplement. Information is available online (www.streetsofmelbourne.com.au).

You can book cheap tickets for most venues throughout Melbourne at the Half-Tix booth, Melbourne Town Hall, Swanston Street (tel: +61 3 9650 9420;www.halftixmelbourne.com). Advance tickets can be bought through Ticketek (tel: 132 849, in Australia only; www.ticketek.com.au).

Visa and passport information is updated regularly and is correct at the time of publishing. You should verify critical travel information independently with the relevant embassy before you travel.